Umpire Ravi’s wrong call offers England breathing space to take control | Andy Bull


Moeen Ali takes advantage of umpire’s no-ball mistake to complete a tough day for West Indies whose pacemen were out on their feet

The ball bounced low, lower than Moeen Ali imagined it would when he leaned back and started to bring through his bat to cut it past point. It flicked off the bottom edge and shot through to Shane Dowrich, who dropped down and caught it just before it hit the ground. Dowrich’s grin fell off his face the moment he looked up again. The bowler, Devendra Bishoo, had already wheeled on his heel, back towards Sundaram Ravi, who had his arm out, not up. No-ball or so Ravi called. Replays showed he had got it wrong, that Bishoo’s heel was just over the line when his toes landed.

Moeen was on 32 at the time and England’s lead was 205, so West Indies were just in touch. An hour later, when Moeen was caught at long-on for 84, that lead was 275 and they were out of it again. The odd thing was Shannon Gabriel had already got away with a lot of genuine no-balls earlier in the innings. Perhaps that was why Ravi felt he ought to call this one, even though it was so tight. Odder still, there was no review, though it is always the first thing the third umpire checks when a team uses the DRS.

Related: England take control and Moeen Ali makes hay as West Indies blow chance

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